Owing to the prevalence and general annoyance of flying insects, many devices have been developed in the past in an attempt to control their local populations, especially around people perhaps trying to enjoy the outdoors or while indoors. One of the most popular insect-control members is “fly-paper”, and although this sticky paper can take on many different forms, the basic structure is generally common and includes a substrate or supporting surface, such as a strip or structure made of paper, or a thin strip of foil made of a plastic or metal sheet, onto which a sticky material is applied, such as a pressure sensitive adhesive or a viscous coating including mineral oil. Examples of such fly papers can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 395,640, 532,454, 552,644, 552,762, 761,202, 807,040, 862,467, 885,615, 897,919, 919,507, 935,428, 1,194,736, 1,480,539, 1,643,118, 4,425,733.
In addition to a sticky surfactant, fly paper usually includes an alluring sex hormone or chemical and/or an attracting scent (and sometimes a poison) to help attract flying insects into contact with the sticky surface. Once contact is made, the insect cannot escape.
A discussion of historical approaches to addressing insect problems is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,778, and hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in its entirety herein. The '778 patent describes a method for attracting and eradicating insects in which a heartbeat sound attracts insects to a control station. According to the '778 patent, by projecting a heartbeat sound from a speaker, one or more discrete zones can be established which attract mosquitoes and other insects. There remains a need, however, to increase the zone of influence of the established attractant zone as well as its efficacy.
Recent efforts in the art of insect control have included the use of resonators that can be used to lure or repel insects with pressure waves (e.g., waves that mimic a heartbeat). Conventional fly paper constructions dampen or distort the pressure waves and thereby render a resonator less effective. Improvements in the construction of fly paper are needed and the present invention addresses this need. The present Applicant has a number of active resonating insect control devices that are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,928,769; 6,568,123; 6,647,215; D467,635; and D467,295, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. While these devices are suitable for their intended applications, the devices are active devices that use a speaker system to emit waves that attract the insects. Since they are active devices that include electronics, the devices have some degree of complexity.
There is therefore a need to provide a simpler insect control device that still provides superior results without the inclusion of electronics, etc.